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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 18 May 1988
Republic of China has recently released for public consultation in Hong Kong. Do not be alarmed, Sir, I am not going into the Basic Law.
Article 19 of the said covenant reads:
*1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputation of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre
public) or of public health or morals.
Now I note paragraphs 1 and 2 categorically uphold freedom and paragraph 3 should be interpreted as limiting the powers of the Government to restrict those freedoms. This is what I mean by the negative approach.
Now article 21 reads and I quote: "The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognised. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.' Now I note that this formulation of article 21 is precisely identical to article 19.
However, article 20 reads:
'1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law."
I note and I hope you will agree with me that this formulation which, I call positive, is diametrically opposed to that for articles 19 and 21. No wonder Her Majesty's Government when ratifying the covenant had this reservation regis- tered upon ratification, and I quote: "The Government of the United Kingdom interpret article 20 consistently with the rights conferred by articles 19 and 21 of the covenant and having legislated in matters of practical concern in the interests of public order (ordre public) reserve the right not to introduce any further legislation. The United Kingdom also reserve a similar right in regard to each of its dependent territories'.
Now, Sir, on 8 July 1987, during the above mentioned debate, I supported the Film Censorship Regulations 1987, and one of the reasons I advanced was this